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Phoenix Symphony Family Series Celebrates American Music
Pre-Concert Activities Featured in Symphony Hall Lobby
(PHOENIX) -The Phoenix Symphony takes a musical journey across the United States in a Family Concert entitled “America the Beautiful” on October 6 at Symphony Hall. The fun-filled afternoon begins with pre-concert activities at 1:30 p.m. featuring the Great Arizona Puppet Theatre, a musical petting zoo, and musical crafts. The concert follows at 2:30 p.m. led by Assistant Conductor Kayoko Dan featuring sounds of America from composers such as Aaron Copland, Scott Joplin, John Philip Sousa and many more. Guest storyteller Mrs. B narrates the concert and serves as a guide across the American musical landscape.
The October 6 concert explores the music of America including the theme from New York, New York, selections from the musical Oklahoma!, and music by The Beach Boys. Talented storyteller Mrs. B leads the musical journey across America with stops along the way to explore jazz in New Orleans, folk music in the heartland, and America's patriotic songs. In addition, the concert features selections from Copland's Rodeo, Dvorák's Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” and an audience sing-along during the National Anthem and the folk song “This Land is Your Land.”
The 2007-08 Family Series is sponsored by the Target Corporation. Thanks to the generosity of Target, this season each adult subscription includes a free child subscription to this wonderful family series. Reservations are available to take advantage of this special opportunity. Call the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602.495.1999 for more information.
Tickets to hear “America the Beautiful” with Kayoko Dan are $10, $14, and $18, and can be purchased by calling the Phoenix Symphony Box Office at 602.495.1999 or by visiting the Symphony's website .
This weekend of concerts is the first concert in the Family Series during The Phoenix Symphony's 2007-08 Season. Future concerts in this series include “Bernstein on Broadway” with Jamie Bernstein on November 10, "Tchaikovsky Discovers America" with Classical Kids on February 23, "Our Arizona" on March 29, and "Sounds of Hollywood" on May 10.
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About Storyteller Mrs. B: Carri Blake-Brekke, "Mrs. B," shares her time with her husband and their combined family of six children between a home in Arizona and a farm in Minnesota. She has been creating children's songs since she was 11 and performing story time for her own children and their classmates for the past 15 years. Now she brings her treasured (and sometimes wacky) stories, songs and animation to your children through Mrs. B's Story Time... with live performances at schools, bookstores, special events, all over the United States and abroad and through her series of story/song books with sing-a-long CD's.
About Assistant Conductor Kayoko Dan: Kayoko Dan joined The Phoenix Symphony as Assistant Conductor in 2005. Each season, she leads the Symphony in a variety of performances including full orchestra and community presentations. Ms. Dan has participated in many conducting workshops where she has received recognition for her talent and potential. In 2003, she was awarded the David Effron Conducting Fellowship at the Chautauqua Institute, and in 2007 she was chosen by Leonard Slatkin as a debut conductor for the National Conducting Institute. A native of Japan, Kayoko Dan began her musical training at age three in Tokyo. She completed her bachelor's degree in music education at the University of Texas at Austin. She subsequently received master's and doctorate degrees from Arizona State University. Her teachers have included Timothy Russell, Timothy Muffitt, and William Reber.
About The Phoenix Symphony: Celebrating its 60th Anniversary Season, The Phoenix Symphony has been proudly serving the citizens of the Phoenix metropolitan area and Arizona since 1947. What began as an occasional group of musicians performing a handful of concerts each year (in a city of fewer than 100,000 people) today serves more than 300,000 people annually, with 275 concerts and presentations throughout the greater Phoenix area and beyond.
Under the artistic leadership of Michael Christie as the Virginia G. Piper Music Director and administrative leadership of President Maryellen H. Gleason, the orchestra is overseen by the non-profit Phoenix Symphony Association under Board Chairman Gerald W. Murphy.
The 76-member Phoenix Symphony presents an annual season from September through the beginning of June, featuring full-length classical and pops concerts at Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix, in Scottsdale, in Prescott, and throughout central Arizona. The Symphony performs for more than 50,000 students and children, helping to introduce music to new generations through a variety of education and youth-engagement programs.
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL Family Concert No. 1 October 6 - Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Symphony Hall
THE PHOENIX SYMPHONY Kayoko Dan, conductor Mrs. B, storyteller Join us as we take a musical journey across the United States! You'll enjoy the rhythmic sounds of big city life and then plunge ahead ears-first into the waves rolling onto California's beaches, with stops along the way to explore jazz in New Orleans, folk music from the heartlands, and proud patriotic songs from sea to shining sea. Pre-Concert activities begin at 1:30 p.m. Before each concert children can make a musical craft, try an instrument at our popular Instrument Petting Zoo and learn more about the beauty and power of symphonic music. Join us and create musical memories for your family! The Family Series is sponsored by Target, The Official Retail Sponsor of The Phoenix Symphony TICKETS: $10, $14, $18
--------------------------------------------------------- The Phoenix Symphony's 2007-08 Media Sponsors are The Arizona Republic and KAET.
